Subpart F--General Design Criteria

§ 72.120 General considerations.

(a) As required by § 72.24, an application to store spent fuel or reactor-related GTCC waste in an ISFSI or to store spent fuel, high-level radioactive waste, or reactor-related GTCC waste in an MRS must include the design criteria for the proposed storage installation. These design criteria establish the design, fabrication, construction, testing, maintenance and performance requirements for structures, systems, and components important to safety as defined in § 72.3. The general design criteria identified in this subpart establish minimum requirements for the design criteria for an ISFSI or an MRS. Any omissions in these general design criteria do not relieve the applicant from the requirement of providing the necessary safety features in the design of the ISFSI or MRS.

(b) The ISFSI must be designed to store spent fuel and/or solid reactor-related GTCC waste.

(1) Reactor-related GTCC waste may not be stored in a cask that also contains spent fuel. This restriction does not include radioactive materials that are associated with fuel assemblies (e.g., control rod blades or assemblies, thimble plugs, burnable poison rod assemblies, or fuel channels);

(2) Liquid reactor-related GTCC wastes may not be received or stored in an ISFSI; and

(3) If the ISFSI is a water-pool type facility, the reactor-related GTCC waste must be in a durable solid form with demonstrable leach resistance.

(1) Reactor-related GTCC waste may not be stored in a cask that also contains spent fuel. This restriction does not include radioactive materials associated with fuel assemblies (e.g., control rod blades or assemblies, thimble plugs, burnable poison rod assemblies, or fuel channels);

(2) Liquid high-level radioactive wastes or liquid reactor-related GTCC wastes may not be received or stored in an MRS; and

(3) If the MRS is a water-pool type facility, the high-level waste and reactor-related GTCC waste must be in a durable solid form with demonstrable leach resistance.

(d) The ISFSI or MRS must be designed, made of materials, and constructed to ensure that there will be no significant chemical, galvanic, or other reactions between or among the storage system components, spent fuel, reactor-related GTCC waste, and/or high level waste including possible reaction with water during wet loading and unloading operations or during storage in a water-pool type ISFSI or MRS. The behavior of materials under irradiation and thermal conditions must be taken into account.

(e) The NRC may authorize exceptions, on a case-by-case basis, to the restrictions
in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section regarding the commingling of
spent fuel and reactor-related GTCC waste in the same cask.